GROUP'S OBSCENITY TRIAL SET BAND PERFORMED 2 LIVE CREW LYRICS

The Broward State Attorney's office, unable to persuade a jury to convict 2 Live Crew of singing obscene songs, will take a New York group to court next week on similar charges.

Three members of the group Too Much Joy will go on trial on charges of performing an obscene act: singing six sexually explicit songs from the Crew's As Nasty As They Wanna Be album at an adults-only show Aug. 10 in Hollywood.

Jury selection is expected to begin on Monday in County Court Judge June L. Johnson's courtroom.

Members of the American Civil Liberties Union and the band's defense attorneys have criticized Sheriff Nick Navarro and the State Attorney's Office for not dropping the charges once a jury acquitted the Crew on Oct. 22 for singing the same lyrics.

"Broward County is beating a dead horse," said ACLU executive director Robyn Blumner. "Sheriff Navarro should concentrate on the epidemic of real crime in the county, not attempt to censor music performed by adults to an audience of adults. The Broward taxpayer shouldn't have to pay for his personal crusade."

So far Broward taxpayers have spent more than $104,000 on investigating and prosecuting 2 Live Crew and others who perform or sell their Nasty album.

Regardless of cost, Navarro said he will continue to arrest anyone who sings the Crew's controversial lyrics until a higher court overturns U.S. District Judge Jose Gonzalez's June 6 ruling in Fort Lauderdale that the album is obscene.

As far as prosecuting Too Much Joy, Navarro said he has no jurisdiction over which cases the state attorney chooses to bring to trial.

"That's not my decision," Navarro said.

The fact that a jury decided that the Crew's lyrics were nasty but not obscene has no bearing on the Too Much Joy case, said Assistant State Attorney John Countryman.

"The first verdict has no legal binding on this trial," Countryman said.

"There is evidence that the obscenity law has been violated and the law says that obscenity cases must be prosecuted vigorously."

Mike Wrubel, among the attorneys defending Too Much Joy, thinks the state's decision to go forward on the case is absurd.

"They're throwing good money after bad," Wrubel said.

The state's case against Too Much Joy includes a video of the group's performance taken by undercover deputies.